Yesterday, ZeniMax Online Studios has finally announced its upcoming release of the Chapter for The Elder Scrolls Online, which will be known as Blackwood. It was said that the companions would also come to the MMO. But in a new interview from the developer, a little more information was received about what this could mean moving forward, namely an in-game romance with an NPC.
In an interview with Game Informer’s Liana Rupper, ESO creative director Rich Lambert confirmed that a relationship is what the team has in mind for the future, even if it doesn’t happen when Blackwood launches in June.
“With these companions, they have their likes and dislikes,” Lambert tells Game Informer. “You can go up one side and down the other side with your attitude towards them. There will be something special that will open up when you maximize this spectrum of relationships, even though initially romance won’t be part of it. […] At the end of the day, romance is definitely where we want to go. We just want to make sure that when we add it, we do it correctly.”
So, Romance is a big part of the Elder Scrolls series, with some NPCs in Skyrim romance-able and other games in the series capable of marriage and romance through mods. Adding this type of mechanic to an ESO Professions Boost can bring it closer to being more like a single-player experience.
In the interview, Lambert also talks about his two companions: Bastion and Maria. According to Lambert, the two companions have completely different characters, such as Bastion’s “chivalrous chivalry” and Mary’s” stab in the back”. The companions themselves are unlocked by completing quests, and then you can assign them specific roles, equip equipment, and more, which will allow you to meet the needs of your solo adventure.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood will be released on PC, Mac and Stadia on June 1, and consoles will appear on June 8. The next-generation versions are still under development, although Lambert said during yesterday’s show that the MMO works perfectly with backward compatibility on both the Xbox and PlayStation 5 series consoles.